<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>I'll Be There for You (Always) by stark_stantony</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23120032">I'll Be There for You (Always)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/stark_stantony/pseuds/stark_stantony'>stark_stantony</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, James "Rhodey" Rhodes &amp; Tony Stark Friendship, James "Rhodey" Rhodes &amp; Tony Stark at MIT, Protective James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 05:55:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,537</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23120032</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/stark_stantony/pseuds/stark_stantony</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of one-shots of Tony and Rhodey in college.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Rhodey" Rhodes &amp; Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>35</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Tony and Rhodey's friendship is so underrated, so I wanted to dive deeper into it. I hope you enjoy it :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>He walked down the hall to his dorm, nerves shooting through his system. He’d already been to and set up his room with Ana and Jarvis, they had wanted to take him out for dinner afterwards as a treat. The goodbyes were hard, but he managed to get through them alright.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He stood at the door to his dorm, talking and music could be heard from the other side. He took the key out of his pocket and put it into the keyhole, taking a deep breath, he turned the key and the door unlocked with a click.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He walked into the room, two boys and a girl were sitting on the couch eating pizza. One of the boys got up and walked to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, you must be my roommate,” he said with a smile, offering his hand. “I’m James.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He took his hand and tried to give his best public voice, “Tony.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girl leaned over to the other boy on the couch, Tony heard her say “well duh”, but James just smiled at him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Come on in, this is your place too,” he said beckoning him in.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony shut the door behind him and walked in.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So, that’s my brother Benjamin,” James said, pointing at the other boy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Benjamin stood up and shook his hand. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And that’s my sister Jessica.” James pointed to the girl. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jessica just waved at him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You can sit down, have some pizza if you like, we’re just celebrating.” James sat next to his sister on the couch.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Um,” Tony fidgeted around and looked down shyly, “I think I might go into my room and figure out my class schedule, is that okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, that’s fine. See you tomorrow!” James waved.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, um, see you tomorrow,” Tony said quietly as he headed for his room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He gently closed his bedroom door behind him and walked over to his desk. A few pieces of paper sat upon it, holding the classes he could take for his major, what they’re for and what textbooks and supplies he needed for them. He sat down to look them over and decide which classes he was gonna take. He sat there going over them for a while, going over the pros and cons of each class to see which ones were the best to take. He wished that he could just take all of them, but that would be too much work for him, and he’d probably die from exhaustion in a month.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A knock on the door startled Tony as he was deep in thought. He quickly made his desk look tidy, he didn’t know why he did, he just did.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Come in,” he called.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>James walked into the room and waved at him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, my siblings are gone and there’s still some left over pizza, I was just wondering if you wanted it. I wasn’t sure if you’d eaten or anything,” he said to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, sure, thank you,” Tony replied.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>James smiled and put the pizza box he was holding onto his bed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You, uh, you still working on your classes?” He asked, obvious hesitation in his voice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony nodded, holding up his list to show James. He came over and looked at it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wow, these are some pretty impressive classes that you’re gonna be in,” James said. “Hey, look, I’m in that class!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony looked to see which one it was and then looked at his pros and cons list.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s one of the ones I’ve chosen,” he said. “I guess we’re gonna be in a class together.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>James smiled at him as he took two slices of pizza out of the box, offering one to Tony. Tony took it and took a bite. It did not taste how he’d expected. He’d only ever really had gourmet pizza at Italian restaurants, and he’d just assumed that all pizza tasted like that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wow! That is greasy!” Tony exclaimed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s not as greasy as the pizza in New York though,” James stated. “Have you not had pizza before?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony looked up at him, “Well, it depends. This kind of pizza? No. But I have had pizza at restaurants before.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That makes sense,” James nodded. “Have you had much of this kind of food? Or just restaurant worthy stuff?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Basically just high class restaurant worthy stuff. I mean, a lot of it is really good, but some of it is…” Tony made a disgusted face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>James laughed, “Oh boy, I gotta take you out sometime, it’ll be fun! I’ll fill your rich belly with cheap, unhealthy American food.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony giggled at that, taking another bite of his pizza.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yay, I’ve always wanted to just be a normal kid, even for a day.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>James’ eyes flicked to the clock on Tony’s bedside table and noticed the time. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, I think I should call it a night. You should too, you can always do that tomorrow, okay?” He said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony nodded, stacking his papers nicely and moving the pizza box off of his bed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, good night James,” Tony said as he sat on his bed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>James was already at the door, he smiled back at Tony. A genuine and friendly smile, one that Tony had never really seen before, it made him feel something inside. He smiled back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Good night Tony.” He closed the door behind him.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>James woke up in the middle of the night, and he couldn’t fall back asleep. He lay in bed, looking up at the ceiling, listening to the sounds of the night. It was mostly quiet, except for a group of people hanging out near their dorm talking, some crickets, and a strange sound that he couldn’t quite figure out what it was.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After laying there doing nothing for a while, James decided to get up to get a drink of water. He walked out into the living area and got his water before sitting down on the couch. He flicked on the lamp and picked up the book that sat on the coffee table and opened it up to read. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He couldn’t manage to concentrate hard enough to actually understand what was happening in the book, as that strange sound that he could hear from his room was bugging him. He decided to try and figure out what it was, so he put the book down and walked towards it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He walked around the room for a while before finally figuring at that it was coming from Tony’s room. He stood at the door for a bit, listening for the sound, before he finally realised that Tony was crying. James quietly opened the door and walked over to Tony’s bed, where he lay on his side, blankets almost over his head. He must’ve realised that James was in his room, because he had stopped crying.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey,” he said gently, leaning over him. “What’s wrong?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He couldn’t see well in the low light, the tear stains on Tony’s cheeks shone in the moonlight from his window. Tony immediately moved the blankets up over his face and rolled them into a human cocoon. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m fine,” Tony quickly replied, trying to subtly wipe his tears away. “Don’t worry about it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re obviously not okay, Tony.” He spoke softly, not wanting to upset him further. “You look like you’ve been crying for a while.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No I haven’t,” Tony insisted. “I’m fine, just can’t sleep.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>James sighed, before a thought occurred to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay,” James reassured. “You don’t have to be ashamed, you’re allowed to cry.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I'm not crying.” A tear fell down his face. “Just leave me alone. I’m fine.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, fine. I wont bug you, but I’m gonna go get you a glass of water.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>James went back out into the living area and came back with the water. He gently placed the glass on Tony’s bedside table.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Here you go,” he said before turning around and walking back towards the door.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait.” Tony sat up. “Please don’t leave. I don’t wanna be alone.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>James walked back over to the bed and Tony moved over, moving his blankets, motioning for James to sit. He gladly obliged.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s wrong?” He asked carefully.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I-I-I-I had a bad dream,” Tony eventually got out, looking down at his trembling hands.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s okay,” James said, trying to think of what he should say. “Nothing to be embarrassed about. Bad dreams are bad dreams. Just because you’re a guy doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed to be upset by them.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“D-do you get bad dreams too?” Tony asked hesitantly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sometimes.” James began to understand what was going on. “At home, we have a cat, her name is Misty, and I’d cuddle her whenever I got scared.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I like cats.” Tony fidgeted with his blankets.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah? Maybe we could get you a cat.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony looked up at James and smiled, “I’d like that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He shuffled down so that he was lying down, James did the same and lay his head just above Tony’s.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You really don’t care about me crying?” Tony asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nope,” James replied. “Cry all you want, I won’t tell you to stop, it’s okay to cry.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony slowly closed his eyes, leaning against James. James looked down at this scrawny little teen, who was slowly falling asleep against him, and smiled. He had no idea what was going on in this kid’s life, but he decided that from this moment forward, he was gonna look after him. No matter what happens between them, no matter how far apart they are, he’s gonna watch out for him, as long as they both live.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, thank you,” Tony said, already half asleep.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yeah, I know, my chapters aren't very long at the moment. I'll try and get them to be longer in the future. <br/>Does anyone have any ideas for things to happen to these two? All ideas and prompts are greatly appreciated.<br/>I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Hey, you got any plans for today?” James asked, knocking on Tony’s door while opening it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Homework?” Tony replied.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Books and paper covered his entire desk. To a stranger it would have looked like a complete mess, having no idea where to find anything at all, but Tony knew where everything was.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Come on,” James said, “that’s it? You gotta do more than that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He walked into the room and stood next to Tony. Tony looked up at him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, I got a paper due on Friday,” Tony stated.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s Saturday.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, but, I might as well get it out of the way now, so that I don’t have to worry about it later.” He looked back down at his work.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s pretty smart actually. How long do you reckon it will take you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“A couple of hours, why?” Tony looked at him, confused.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was thinking about keeping that promise I made to you, take you out and eat as much ridiculously unhealthy food as we possibly can.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony smiled, “I’d love to do that. I mean, I could always do my paper tomorrow.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How about you split it, do half today, half tomorrow?” James gestured with his hands.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony smiled before going back to his work.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>* * * * *</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, where would you like to go first?” James asked as they got out of the car. “We could get donuts, or hot dogs, or burgers and fries. What would you like?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They had driven to a nearby mall. Tony had been excited because he got to ride in the passenger seat, rather than the back. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know, it’s so hard to choose,” Tony replied, looking around at all of the buildings.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just know that we’ll be going to all of them,” James informed, as he started walking towards the buildings.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh goodness!” Tony exclaimed. “I don’t think I’ll be able to eat for three days.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They both laughed as they walked through the entrance. Tony looked around, amazed at all of the stores and people that surrounded them. They walked to a map of the mall to look at it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shall I choose?” James offered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sure, I don’t mind, just whatever,” Tony replied</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, donuts it is!” James pointed at the donut place on the map.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They walked to an escalator nearby and stepped onto it. Tony stood close to James, looking around like a curious child.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Where are we?” He asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The mall,” James replied.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Woah!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No way,” James said, amazed. “You’ve never been to a mall before?!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony shook his head, “Not really. I mean, I think I have for charity events that my dad hosts, but other than that, no.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looked down and shuffled his feet a bit. He’d never gotten to have a normal childhood, even at his boarding school, people would laugh at him for not knowing or experiencing things.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is it alright if I ask why?” James asked cautiously.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Tony smiled. “I don’t really know why. I went to boarding school for 6 years, and only went home during the holidays. During summer vacation, we usually went away to like, Mexico or Italy, or somewhere. I never really had time to just be at home. And even when I did, I never really left the house.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wow. Rich life is not what I thought it was.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It honestly depends on the family. I know some kids of people in my parents’ social group that go to the mall all the time. But, yeah, your statement still stands, it really isn’t what you’d expect.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They walked up to the door of the donut store as James spoke, “That’s so weird.  Look, here we are. Come on in.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony’s nose was suddenly assaulted by a variation of smells as soon as James had opened the door. As they walked in, the smells grew stronger and sweeter. Tony gaped at the wide arrangement of donuts at the counter. James looked at him and laughed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, so, here’s the different selection of donuts,” James gestured toward the glass case of donuts, “take your pick.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There are way too many to choose from!” Tony said in amazement. “What do you recommend?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Definitely jelly donuts,” James replied after thinking for a while, “they’re the best. Chocolate ones are good, and probably the raspberry frosted ones with sprinkles.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can I get all of those?” Tony looked at James hopefully.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sure.” James smiled. “Have as many as you’d like, I don’t care.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony laughed excitedly as the cashier put the donuts James had described into a box. The man looked at James expectedly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’d have the same please,” James said to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The man put all the donuts into the small box and closed it, giving it to James as he paid.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, thank you.” He picked up the box and walked to Tony. “Come on, let’s sit.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They both sat down at a table, James placed the box on top of it and opened it. Tony looked curiously at the donuts. James picked up one of the donuts and handed it to Tony. Tony took it and looked it over.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There you go,” said James, “what do you think?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony put the donut into his mouth and took a bite. It instantly filled with the flavour of raspberry as the jelly in the middle squished out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh my god!” Tony exclaimed, his mouth still full of donut. “That’s delicious!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Isn’t it?!” James laughed. “I love donuts!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They sat in silence, happily eating their food. Tony ate his donuts slowly, enjoying the taste of each one of them. James on the other hand, ate all of his in two minutes. Tony laughed at him as he’d stuffed the last bite into his mouth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Where will we go next?” Tony asked once he’d finished his last donut.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Probably to the hot dog place.” James pointed to the place across the courtyard.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How did you guess that I’ve never had any of these foods before?” Tony asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I honestly have no idea. I’m just taking you to not very gourmet, but very delicious places.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They both laughed as they got up and left the store.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>* * * * * </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They were on their way back to the donut store to take some home after going to Burger King, when Tony suddenly felt the sensation as if he was being watched. James had been talking to him, but he was too busy trying to find out what was wrong to listen. James didn’t really notice until he asked him a question, and he didn’t reply.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>James tugged at Tony’s sleeve, “Hey, are you alright?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know,” Tony replied, still looking around.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then he saw them. Not too far away from them, was someone, crouching down beside a bench, aiming a camera at them. Tony inhaled sharply as soon as he spotted them and pulled James into the nearest store and headed straight for the back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, what’s going on?” James asked, concerned.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony just looked at him, fear in his face, “Paparazzi.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A look of understanding came across James’s face. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony trembled a bit, not really sure of what to do. He’d never been out without Jarvis or his father before. They always knew what to do. He thought that he would, but apparently not. He just stood there, trembling, trying his hardest not to cry. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, hey, Tony, it’s alright,” James soothed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m so sorry,” Tony said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, no, no, it’s okay. I knew that something like this would happen if I hung out with you. It’s okay.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>James looked through the window to find the paparazzi. They were just standing outside, waiting.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, you know what we’re gonna do,” James said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony shook his head.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That was a rhetorical question. What we’re gonna do is, forget the donuts. I’m gonna take your hand, and we’re gonna bolt for my car, okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They’d probably follow us though,” Tony replied. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, but they’re not allowed to follow us on to campus, so we’ll be fine. Okay, you ready?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony grumbled before nodding his head. James took Tony’s hand in his and they both ran out of the door and towards the carpark as fast as they could. As soon as they got to the car, James unlocked the door and pushed Tony in. He climbed over the driver’s seat and jumped into his own as James got in. James started the car, and before they knew it, they were on the road.They both let out a sigh of relief and started laughing. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh my god! That was crazy,” Tony said. “Let’s never do that again.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Very much agreed sir!” James laughed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can we still stop and get donuts?” Tony asked.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This one's a little longer! Yay! <br/>Thank you so much everyone for your kudos and comments, it makes me so happy to see people enjoying my writing!<br/>Prompts and ideas are very much appreciated :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Prompt by iluvharrypotter172</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The workload in college was insane. It was a huge step up from what Tony was used to, and sometimes he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to finish it all in time. His assignments kept stacking up, but he always managed to do them all. </p><p>Tony sat over his desk, his hair stuck out, and his eyes were heavy, but this paper was due tomorrow, and he hadn’t even started. He had thought that he’d done it, but he was wrong. He found it under some of his textbooks, still unfinished. </p><p>It was 2:30 in the morning, and he was studying his absolute hardest, as tired as he was. He absolutely had to get this finished and turn it in on time, there was no way in hell that he wasn’t gonna turn in his paper.</p><p>Another hour passed, and he wasn't even half way. The stress and exhaustion became too much for him as he felt his heart get heavy and his head felt tight. A few tears started down his cheeks, he tried so hard to keep them in, but they escaped, and once they'd escaped, they just kept coming. He started sobbing, his eyes blurring from the water in them. He put his face into his hands and just cried.</p><p>A gentle hand slid across his back after a few long moments. James pulled Tony into a hug, gently stroking his arms with his thumbs. </p><p>“You’ve been up too long buddy, you need to sleep,” James said gently.</p><p>Tony shook his head, “No, I can’t, I have to finish.” His voice was broken from crying.</p><p>“Okay, how about a break?” James asked.</p><p>Tony thought for a moment before nodding his head. James took his arm from around Tony and offered his hand. Tony took it and stood up, and they both walked into the living room. </p><p>They sat on the couch in silence, Tony huddled under James’s arm, as Tony tried to regain control over his crying. </p><p>“You know, it’s okay to not be perfect all the time. Sometimes it’s okay to fail,” James said once Tony had calmed down.</p><p>“I can’t, I have to get this done, or my Dad’s gonna kill me!” Tony said, straightening up, so that he can look at James.</p><p>“If your Dad’s gonna put this much pressure on you, it’s not worth it. Don’t do this for him Tony, do this for you. What do you wanna do?”</p><p>Tony thought for a bit, “Sleep.”</p><p>James laughed gently, “Yeah, that’s what I thought. I know how much passing means to you, but don’t put so much pressure on yourself, okay? You can ask for an extension, there’s no shame in that.”</p><p>Tony smiled before resting his head on James’s shoulder. He was so glad that he had such a good friend like James.</p><p>After a while, the two of them fell asleep, still huddled closely on the couch.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I am so sorry that this took so long to come out. I had writer's block for a while, and then my interest changes, so I haven't felt motivated. I'm sorry. <br/>I don't know when I will post next, but, yeah. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm sorry it's so short.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading :) <br/>Prompts and ideas are greatly appreciated.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>